5:18pm: David Waldstein of The New York Times reports that the two sides are expected to announce later today that they could not reach a deal. The Mets will have to release Takahashi per the terms of their contract.
11:56am: Hisanori Takahashi has until midnight to negotiate a deal with the Mets, but it doesn't look like the sides will reach a deal unless the left-hander lowers his demands. Takahashi is asking for a three-year deal worth $4-5MM per season, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com confirms Heyman's report (on Twitter).
The Mets offered Takahashi a one-year deal before current GM Sandy Alderson took over, according to the New York Times. If the Mets don't agree to a deal with Takahashi tonight, he would not be able to re-sign in New York and pitch before May 15th. That essentially means he's signing elsewhere if he doesn't reach an agreement with the team tonight.
See ya later Takahashi hame ha
Wow, that’s aiming a bit high. I don’t see anyone going over two years.
I’d like to see Taka back with the Mets but not at $12-$15 million. I hope they can find a middle ground.
“If the Mets don’t agree to a deal with Takahashi tonight, he would not be able to re-sign in New York and pitch before May 15th.”
Why is that? Is that how it is with all free agents and their current teams? How does that work?
According to the major leagues’ Rule 8 (i) (2), any player who is released after midnight Aug. 31 and before the next opening day cannot sign a major league contract with the same team until May 15 the following year. so… because they apparently released him at some point (?) if he doesn’t sign by midnight, he has to wait until May 15th to sign with the Mets, unless he wants to sign a Minor League deal,
(so during that time period, he would be a free agent, who can sign a Major League Contract, at any point, with any other team, besides the Mets)
Which side would put that in a contract? I don’t see how it is in either one’s interest.
sorry, I was wrong, it’s some rule, I edited my post now
It is a common clause in contracts for older guys coming from Japan or other foreign leagues. It prevents them from having to be under team control for 6 years and allows them to get paid more like the veteran they are if they perform well. So the Mets had until 10/31 but then 11/5 after the extension to sign him or they had to release him.
I take it that the collective bargaining agreement prohibits a free agency clause or a mandatory non-tender clause for players without tenure so mandatory unconditional release is the only means of automatically making a player without seniority a free agent. Perhaps it’s time to rethink the May 15 restriction of 8(i)(2). They eliminated the May 15 rule for a team’s own free agents not that long ago.
I take it that the collective bargaining agreement prohibits a free agency clause or a mandatory non-tender clause for players without tenure so mandatory unconditional release is the only means of automatically making a player without seniority a free agent. Perhaps it’s time to rethink the May 15 restriction of 8(i)(2). They eliminated the May 15 rule for a team’s own free agents not that long ago.
3/10 sounds good, although sandy will probably not want to start off his tenure wiith a high risk move, 3.xx is alot for a reliever with one year experience, look at okajima now
Taka’s ERA as a reliever was quite a bit lower at 2.04. His peripherals were also much better. His major flaw as a starter was the fact that the more he went through the opposing teams batting order the more he got hit around.
1st PA: .598 OPS against
2nd PA: .918 OPS against
3rd PA: .990 OPS against
You can take all of this with a grain of salt given that it’s only a year’s worth of data, but it’s definitely telling. He’s best suited in the ‘pen and maybe a spot start here or there in a pinch.
thats what i was trying to say, alot of these japanese players come over to the states, do well there first year, then as you said hitters figure them out.
THREE years — starting at age 36?? He done good last year – but not THAT good.
Now if he developed a knuckle ball…
Yankees need a lefty in the bullpen. Jeter is gone. Problem solved.
The Mets didn’t release him. He signed a minor league contract with an out clause to basically prevent the Mets from having control over him for the next 5 years. I’m assuming Minaya didn’t know what he had with Takahashi and instead of signing him to a major league guaranteed deal decided to sign him to a minor league deal and agreed to the clause. With Minaya gone it’s easy to point the finger, but lets be serious. Takahashi is a 35-year old pitcher. No one knew how valuable he’d be, so you can’t really blame Omar on this one.
Originally he was due to become a FA at season’s end. He compromised with the Mets and agreed to extend until Nov 5th because of the FO issues. That indicates to me that he wants to return. What he’s proposing is just an opening bid. He was versatile and productive enough to merit a contract and a slight raise, but just that. What Avi posted above sounds about right for both sides.
While your probably right that it’s just an opining bid on his and his agents part. It’s hard to justify a 3 year deal, or 4-5 million per, for a guy with one year under his belt. I like Takahashi, but he would need to make some serious concessions in the next few hours to be able to find a middle ground. 2/7 is plenty for him.
But I don’t expect that to happen. He’ll probably be playing elsewheres next year.
I like Taka but 3 years is too risky
If he doesn’t come to a deal with the Mets, it’s a mutual loss. More for him than the Mets. He’s not getting anything like 3 years at $5MM. And if goes to the AL, his stuff is not going to translate into what it did in the NL.
Good Luck in finding 15 Million buddy!!
I never got the whole deal with the Mets and Takahashi’s camp getting an extension from MLB to negotiate an extension. What’s the point of having deadlines to finalize deals if they can be extended? I’m pretty sure I know what Ozzie Guillen would say about this.
Takahashi had what seemed to be a pretty odd/exclusive “escape clause” since he signed a minor league deal. He allowed him to leave and become a FA after the end of the season (either 10 days after the Mets final game or October 31st). During that time the Mets had exclusive negotiating rights and I guess because the Mets FO was going through a transition for quite a bit of that time MLB allowed them an extra week, but now he’s going to be a FA. I’ll miss him, but not for 3 years @ 4MM per.
just dont understand why they gave igarashi a 2 year deal. i guess they were undecided on taka when they signed him.
I believe Igarashi was a more accomplished pitcher in Japan and is younger which may be why they chose a ML contract for him and a minor league one for Tak. I also believe more teams were in on Igarashi which may explain the need to make it a ML contract to lure him into signing.
well, thanks for your good pitching.
oh, can the Mets offer Takahashi arb if he’s under this wierd contract? he’s a type B.
no because he is outside the normal process and is essentially being released which negates the arb process as the Mets cannot offer it to him,
damn! at least we can still offer Feliciano arb
I don’t really get why he had a limited window to re-sign and can’t until May. But that’s how it works.
He’s going to be disappointed because no one will give a 36-year-old pitcher a 3 year deal after only 1 season in the majors.
Never say never. Omar was not the only crazy GM in baseball. I personally do not think it will happen but weirder things have been done.
I think I’m going to be more disappointed as we stand-by, completely unable to negotiate as his asking price dwindles down because his agent will realize he’s not worth that much. He’ll end up signing with a rival for what we offered. Sigh. The life of a Mets fan.
thia is a good move on the Mets part. You cant give a 36 year old a 3 year deal. Feliciano is the lefty in the pen who is more proven and deserves a 2 year deal.